Benson and his heirs reach settlement in contentious ownership battle

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson poses for a photo with his wife Gayle Benson and his granddaughter, co-owner Rita Benson LeBlanc, before an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings in New Orleans, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014. At far right is Renee Benson. daughter of Tom Benson and mother of Rita Benson LeBlanc. (AP Photo/Bill Haber) less

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson poses for a photo with his wife Gayle Benson and his granddaughter, co-owner Rita Benson LeBlanc, before an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings in New Orleans, ... more

Photo: Bill Haber, STF / AP

Photo: Bill Haber, STF / AP

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New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson poses for a photo with his wife Gayle Benson and his granddaughter, co-owner Rita Benson LeBlanc, before an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings in New Orleans, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014. At far right is Renee Benson. daughter of Tom Benson and mother of Rita Benson LeBlanc. (AP Photo/Bill Haber) less

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson poses for a photo with his wife Gayle Benson and his granddaughter, co-owner Rita Benson LeBlanc, before an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings in New Orleans, ... more

Photo: Bill Haber, STF / AP

Benson and his heirs reach settlement in contentious ownership battle

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San Antonio and New Orleans billionaire Tom Benson has reached a settlement in his legal battle with his heirs who were bidding to snatch ownership of the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans from him in a federal trial that was set to begin on Monday.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that the agreement will need approval by the National Football League and National Basketball Association before it can go into effect. It also appears to end Benson's celebrated family court battles that have played out in Texas and Louisiana courtrooms over the last 18 months.

Benson sued last year to remove shares of his franchises from the trust funds he created for his daughter, Renee Benson, and his grandchildren, Ryan and Rita LeBlanc. It came after an ugly family fallout that later led the 87-year-old Benson to instead leave the teams to his second wife, Gayle Benson.

Benson reached the settlement Friday with two San Antonio lawyers serving as trustees over the heirs' trust funds who had blocked Benson's attempt to remove the team stock.

The terms of the settlement, including whether any shares of the teams will stay in the heirs' trust funds, weren't released Friday.

Trustees Mary Rowe and Robert Rosenthal said they are "pleased that an agreement has been reached and that these important issues are close to an amicable resolution."

"As trustees, our objectives all along have been to protect the integrity of the trusts and to reassure the public that the Saints and Pelicans will continue to call New Orleans home," the trustees' said in a joint statement. "We look forward to memorializing a final agreement in consultation with the leagues."

Forbes Magazine valued the Saints at $1.515 billion last September. He bought the team for $70 million in 1985.

The Pelicans' worth was pegged at $650 million early this year by Forbes. Benson bought the team for $340 million in 2012.

If the trial had gone to court, potentially explosive financial information about the inner workings of the NFL and NBA could have been released. Benson also was expected to testify.

Earlier, court documents indicated that Benson said in a deposition that he removed his heirs because they tried to kill him.

In the documents from the deposition, Benson said about his heirs: "You know, by picking on my wife and when I wasn't feeling very good, they were very hostile."

The Times-Picayune reports that litigation involves only non-controlling stock in the franchises, meaning the shares didn't give the heirs any authority over the teams, only a financial interest. Tom Benson has remained in charge of the teams by owning all of the controlling shares.

The heirs' trust funds hold 95 percent of the Pelicans and 60 percent of the Saints.

Two other cases involving Benson also had proceedings on Friday, the Times-Picayune reported.

Renee Benson had sought to replace her father as trustee over a family trust fund that held car dealerships, a bank and real estate. After a year of litigation, father and daughter reached a settlement that left Renee Benson in control in a case heard in San Antonio.

And in a separate case, Tom and Gayle Benson were named in a lawsuit filed by Tom Benson's former personal assistant, Rodney Henry, who claimed Gayle Benson made racially derogatory remarks and harassed him on the job.